


Apologise

by TirNanOg89



Series: Past Is Prologue [14]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: M/M, mention of rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 22:13:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7379494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TirNanOg89/pseuds/TirNanOg89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James finally gets hurt too much and Alec has had enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apologise

Too Late to Apologise.

 

********

Mallory was in Q branch for the tenth time that day when Bond’s comm. line crackled. The whole branch went silent for a long moment, so every one there heard clearly when Bond spoke, despite how weak and slurred his words were.

“Mission accomplished.”  
“Bond! Where are you? What is your condition?”  
“Main compound, not too good really, could do with a lift.”  
“Sit Rep Commander? How hot is the evac sight?”  
“Icy, all sound and fury.”

Mallory’s eyebrows rose in shock at that, the main compound had housed, at their last best estimate, over a hundred hostiles, so what the hell had happened between then and now that Bond could say there was no threat? He shook the questions off when he heard just how shallow and laboured Bond’s breathing was.

“How injured are you?”  
“I’ll be fine after a nap.”  
“Bond, you have never called for evac before, I need to know just how well stocked the medics need to be, so how bad?”  
“Not good Sir, send plenty of blood, surgeon might be useful.”  
“Bloody hell man! Q! they better be on their way already, ETA?”  
“Five minutes out M. talk to me 007, what happened?”  
“Took a little longer than I had to break their encryption, and that tranquilliser gas you warned me about works even better than you said. Their hospitality was lacking, so I lodged a formal complaint.”  
“The decrypter I gave you should have blown through their system in seconds!”

There was a conspicuous silence on the other end of the line, all they could hear was the faint chop of air as the evac chopper came within range of the comm. Q went stiff as it clicked.

“You lost it didn’t you? Before you even got there you lost or broke it! This whole situation could have been avoided if you just had a little more damn respect for the equipment I give you! I thought we had dealt with this last time I had to speak to you about it, but no, you just can’t keep hold of anything for five minutes and look what happens! You get caught because you don’t have the equipment I made to keep you out of trouble!”

Q was interrupted as they heard the medics arrive, he continued ranting quietly to his self, though not too quietly for Mallory stood right next to him, or James to hear every word on the other end of the com.

“Gave him the bloody prototype for a reason! Stupid Agents can’t keep hold of working tech for two minutes! Would have been in and out before they knew he was around if he’d just kept it in one bloody piece! But no! can’t possibly respect the hundreds of hours and millions of pounds that go into making the damn things can they? Of course not, that would be too helpful!”

Mallory couldn’t help his eyebrows raising, as he split his attention between the Quartermaster and the medics now talking over the very badly injured Agent as he continued to rant. He could see the worry in the mans every move but he was very clearly pissed about the loss of his latest toy, not that he could blame him, he was the one who had to defend his exorbitant budget to the committee after all.

“And I know he can treat it properly, he’s bought everything back for the last two missions, since I gave him a proper dressing down last month when he threw it all away!”  
“I’m fairly sure it’s not intentional Q, and the retrieval crew is there now, so why don’t you sign off?”

Q looked startled for a moment before he nodded and did just that, shutting down his station and going home for the first time in three days.

James was not quite so lucky. He heard every word of Q’s rant about his equipment and it all finally clicked, he had had enough, he had who knew how many cuts, scrapes, bruises and breaks, he knew at least a few of his ribs were broken from the beatings he had been given, and he couldn’t even think about everything else they had done to him, at least this time it had only been three days, and he had had the satisfaction of getting his self free and killing every one of them on his way out, some slower than others, but he knew the worst of it was the internal bleeding. It wasn’t what had happened that bothered him, so much as others knowing about it, which they inevitably would this time. Before he had always dealt with it his self and made sure nobody ever found out, but this time he was too badly injured, he had known he wouldn’t be able to stay conscious long enough to get out of the compound safely alone, so he had had to call for retrieval, and now they would know, medical would have to deal with the bleeding, so they would know, and it would go on his record, so they would all know, and that he couldn’t cope with, ridiculous as it might seem. His body was a weapon, a tool, and those got damaged, it was a fact of life, but for anyone to look at him like a victim, to know that he hadn't been able to prevent it, to hand them that kind of ammunition against him was unacceptable, just too much. The real kicker was Q’s attitude though, he had actually admitted he was badly injured enough to need evac and the man was still only interested in his tech, it was the final straw really, having such plain and incontrovertible proof, from his perspective, of just how little his life meant to the man whose job it was to guide him through his missions, and bring him home as safe as possible. The last thing he heard as he finally lost consciousness was Q, still berating him, making sure he knew it was his own fault he had been captured, and everything else they had done to him.

It was almost three weeks before he opened his eyes again, to find his self in Medical. If there was one thing he knew, it was his own body, it’s strengths and weaknesses and limits, so he knew they must have been keeping him sedated while his body recovered, which medical were far to fond of doing, and then wondered why none of the Agents wanted to go to them. It wasn’t long before he got out of the bed and made his way to his own locker where he changed into his spare clothes, collected all Q’s toys then headed for Q Branch. James put everything he had been handed before his mission on Q’s desk, turned around and left, not quite capable of his usual cocky gait, but head held high as he walked out of MI6 and disappeared. 

********

As soon as Q saw the tech on his desk he started frowning, it only took him a minute to recognise every piece, and about the same again to put them together and realise he was looking at every piece of equipment he had handed Bond before his last disastrous mission, including the decrypter he had so berated the man for loosing. He had a sudden flashback, his own voice running away with him as he paid more attention to his computer screens in an attempt to figure out what had happened and the quickest way to get Bond home, his voice telling Bond it was his own fault he had been captured, words which had haunted him since he had checked Bonds medical files and read the list of injuries the man had suffered, and the recommendation he be taken off duty entirely until Psych could evaluate him. That had hit him in the gut and refused to let go, realising exactly what he had blamed the man for bringing on his self. Q had immediately made detailed plans of exactly how he was going to apologise and make up for everything he had said, only James was still unconscious in medical, so he waited. Unfortunately he waited too long, and before he realised 007 was even awake he had disappeared, was just gone, and nobody knew where to even start looking for him. 

Q, being a logical person, started with the last place he had proof 007 had been, at his own desk, and worked from there, following him out of MI6 but had lost him in under ten minutes, the man hadn't been trained to escape and evade for nothing. That was when Q decided to work his way back, to figure out where the tech had come from, because it hadn't been on the downed Agent when he was air lifted back to HQ. Q went back to the footage of Bond dropping off his equipment, then followed him back through the security cameras, of which there were many, until he saw him walk into the locker room empty handed in scrubs, and come back out fully dressed with all his equipment. There was only one logical explanation, the Agent had put his equipment in his locker before he had even left for the mission, it had never left HQ, and the only possible reason for that was the amount of hassle Q had given him for loosing or breaking ‘his’ things. It didn’t take long to sink in that everything that had happened to Bond on this mission was ‘his’ fault, not Bond’s at all. Q went back further on the security footage, praying he was wrong even though he knew he wasn’t, and found the same for Bond’s two previous missions as well, as soon as he was handed his equipment he would take it to his locker and leave it there, collecting it after the mission over to return in pristine condition, to nothing more than sarcastic comments from which ever Tech signed them back in for him.

The only thing worse than the guilt eating him up inside, was having to explain it all to M.

********

Alec Trevelyan gave a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him, finally safe in the home he shared with James, a small grin fighting past the exhaustion at the thought of curling up with his partner after such a long and stressful mission. The grin faded when he realised he couldn’t smell any food, and even more when he saw the lump curled up under the covers on their bed, a lump which hadn't moved since he closed the door, because he would have noticed the movement if it had.

“James? What’s wrong моя любовь? (my love)”

The lump under the covers started to shake ever so slightly and Alec let out a pained sigh.

“Oh возлюбленная (sweetheart), what have they done to you?”

Alec didn’t waste any time stripping his clothes off and crawling under the covers to wrap his self carefully around James, trying to check him for physical damage as he went, and finding much more than he was comfortable with. They lay in silence for hours, Alec just holding James carefully, until James finally spoke, telling him everything that had happened while Alec took deep calming breaths and planned.

********

Q was not easily intimidated, he wouldn’t have got or kept his position if he had been, but when 006 stalked into Q Branch three days after Bond had disappeared, he had to take a deep breath and brace his self before he could meet his eye. As soon as he did look him in the eye he wished he hadn't, or that he could turn and run without loosing all respect for his self, because 'deadly' really didn’t cover it, and he found he had a new appreciation for the fear these 00 agents could inspire in others, and almost felt sorry for their targets. Trevelyan said nothing for a long moment once he reached Q, just stared at him silently, which honestly? Was a lot worse than any kind of shouting could have been. Eventually the man spoke, calm and quiet, but frigid as a vacuum and full of deadly threat.

"Your job is to make sure MI6 Agents have every possible advantage in the field, in an often vain attempt to give us the best chance possible to come home alive, and in as few pieces as possible. Q Branch provide Agents with intelligence and technology to this end, recently, under your leadership, they have begun to offer help and guidance while we are in the field as well, to great effect on occasion. But you have forgotten that tech can be replaced, we can't. Why didn’t you just put another bullet in his shoulder, that was a kinder way to sabotage him, which seems to be the new policy around here. I suggest you take a long, close look at your branch's mandates, pay close attention to why you have a job, and get your people to do the same. That's for Mallory, not you."

Alec dropped an envelope on his desk, turned and walked away. Q waited until he was out the door before he let out the breath he had been holding, along with everyone else in the Branch, and took a few deep breaths as he tried to make his hands stop shaking, and convince his self that he had just survived 006's wrath in one piece. Once he was fairly sure he wouldn’t embarrass his self too much, he spoke loud enough that everyone would hear him clearly.

"006 is quite right. In caring so much about our creations, which is understandable, we have allowed our selves to loose sight of why we are here, and given such latitude to build them in the first place, which is not. We have all failed, I more than any, and that ends now. I want the file photos of every Agent up on that wall, as a reminder to us all that they are more than just code and the occasional voice, they are all people, and we need to remember that."

Q knew he could never make up for what he had done to Bond, but he could ensure it never happened again. He took a careful look at his people, just to make sure everyone was recovering from 006's visit, then picked up the envelope and took it up to M his self, he didn’t know what was in it, but he was sure it was going to be bad.

He wasn’t wrong.

********

M looked at Q and Tanner over the resignation letters of both 006 and 007, their two best and longest lived Field Agents.

"Well, this is a proper balls up isn't it? Tanner, you know them, is this serious and if so can we change their minds?”

Bill was frowning mightily at the floor, and took a moment to gather his self before he looked up.

“With all due respect, this conversation could have been had when Bond left and you both realised what had precipitated the events, but you left me out of the loop and hoped it would go away if you ignored it. 00’s don’t, ignoring them is the most deadly mistake one can make, and generally the last. I was also not informed when 006 returned, when again, I could have possibly headed this off, but it’s too late now, neither one of them are frivolous or prone to changing their minds, now the resignations are both in that’s the end of it, all you can hope is they don’t decide to go rogue.”  
“Bond retired once before, he soon came back, then again when everyone thought he was dead, what makes this different?”

Mallory was honestly curious and not questioning him, only looking for clarification, which Bill gave with a sharp grin.

“Because Trevelyan is with him this time. As long as one of them was here we knew the other would come back, the longest they have been separated is just under a month this last time.”  
“Bond was declared dead two and a half months after falling into that river.”  
“Yes, because M told 006 that if Bond didn’t stop sulking and come home she would declare him dead again and sell his flat and everything in it. She did sell it, but it had already been cleared out, and the money went to 006 as his next-of-kin. It was far from the first time. She always said it gave her plenty of practice at eulogy’s.”  
“Right, well, Mansfield’s hobbies aside, how likely are they to be a threat in the future?”  
“That depends on you Sir, you and the rest of the Government. If you leave them alone they will never be a threat to England or the Crown, much as we had our doubts about 006, 007 is and always will be enough to stop him ever turning against us, unless you force Bond’s hand by threatening them. You’ve both heard the recordings from Silva’s island, he wasn’t joking when he mentioned his ‘pathetic love of Country’, he is the most dedicated and loyal person I have ever met, which just makes this whole situation even more tragic.”  
“It’s my fault entirely, I got carried away with the freedom of the position and forgot its responsibilities, got completely hung up on our creations and the budget, and forgot the job I was entrusted with was helping to keep our people alive.”  
“Yes, you did. You buggered this royally, now learn from it and don’t compound it by wasting the experience and humility it can give you, get on and do your job better.”  
“I will, I’ve already spoken to the Branch, and I’ll be going over everything, this wont happen again. But isn’t there more I can do? Maybe if I go to them, apologise in person and ask them for a second chance, maybe they might reconsider?”  
“I believe you really believe that might help, and you really don’t want them to leave, but it’s not down to just you. To be honest, I didn’t think we would ever see James again after he lost M, I assumed Alec would just leave and the pair of them would disappear. This is just the final straw, not the biggest one, or the worst, and I think we owe it to both of them to leave them alone and honour their decisions. An apology couldn’t hurt though, on a personal front, if you can find them.”

Bill didn’t look as if he thought it was going to happen, and Q was far from confidant. 

********

James lay quietly, curled up into Alec’s side on the sofa, the first time he had left their bed for anything but nature since Alec got home, listening to his lover as he made a call to a friend in Russian.

“Natalia, my dear friend, any chance we can borrow your couch? … A bed would be better, yes, James is not at his best yet. … He made sure none of them were alive before he even left, but we appreciate the offer. … A private flight is always better, but yes, especially when we aren't at our best. … Thank you, where shall we meet you? … Yes it’s a sturdy flat roof, why? … Ha! Well, that really is door-to-door service! When shall we expect you? Thank you again Natalia, we’ll be ready. See you then.”

James roused his self enough to look up ant Alec, who was grinning at him mischievously. 

“Do you want me to pack for you sweetheart? Natalia will be here in about five hours, she’s picking us up on the roof!”

James smiled as the news sank in, it was only a small, still pained smile, but still the first Alec had seen from him since his return. When Alec had first handed him his resignation letter to sign, James had hesitated, even after this last cluster fuck he was still loyal to Queen and Country, however pathetic that made him, but he knew this really was the last straw for both of them, they could no longer trust MI6 to have their backs or let them get on with their jobs, and with the risks they faced with every job, as highlighted on this last one, they needed every advantage they could get, and the very least the people who sent them out to kill and die could do for them was not make things harder, and they really couldn’t even manage that any more. He had signed his resignation knowing it was the right thing to do, the only thing he could do, but still with a heavy heart. He had always served his country, he had gone straight to the Navel College after school, then straight to the Navy and from there to MI6 by the time he was 30, soon to become the youngest ever 00 Agent at 38, now after seven years of a job that killed most in less than five, he had had enough. He leaned up and kissed Alec on the cheek.

“How about I pick out some clothes for us and you pack it, then we can clear out the armoury, we’ll get a company in to clear the rest when we find somewhere permanent.”  
“Sounds perfect Sweetheart, I’ll get a bag.”

It didn’t take them long, the armoury fit in two large kit bags, and a third was filled with clothes. Within half an hour they were ready to go, their lives reduced to three kit bags, and James was already tired again. Alec settled James on the sofa before clearing everything perishable, not that they ever had much, out of the kitchen, shutting off the water and unplugging everything that could be, securing the apartment for a long absence before joining James on the sofa and holding him close while he slept again. Alec waited as long as he could before waking James, getting them to the roof just in time to see the newly famous ‘Quinjet’ land on their roof, the back dropping down to show Natalia Romanova, more commonly known as Natasha Romanoff, or the Black Widow.

Their new start was sure to be interesting if nothing else.

 

Perfectus.  
********

All translations courtesy of Google.  
моя любовь = My love.  
возлюбленная = Sweetheart.

 

Apologise  
By Timbaland

 

I'm holding on your rope  
Got me ten feet off the ground  
And I'm hearing what you say  
But I just can't make a sound  
You tell me that you need me  
Then you go and cut me down, but wait...  
You tell me that you're sorry  
Didn't think I'd turn around, and say..

That it's too late to apologize, it's too late  
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late

I'd take another chance, take a fall, take a shot for you  
And I need you like a heart needs a beat  
(But that's nothing new)  
Yeah yeah

I loved you with a fire red, now it's turning blue  
And you say  
Sorry like the Angel Heaven let me think was you,  
But I'm afraid

It's too late to apologize, it's too late  
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late  
Whoa oh whoa

It's too late to apologize, it's too late  
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late  
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah  
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah

I'm holding on your rope  
Got me ten feet off the ground...


End file.
